Alexander Isak 'surprised' Arne Slot on Liverpool debut as Everton plan clear

Liverpool started Alexander Isak against Atletico Madrid as the £125million striker made his debut at Anfield in their first Champions League match of the season

Arne Slot was surprised by the fitness levels of Alexander Isak after playing for an hour in Liverpool's thrilling 3-2 win against Atletico Madrid. The striker had only played 18 minutes since the end of last season, those coming as a substitute for Sweden during the September international break.

Nonetheless, his Liverpool debut came from the start as they began their Champions League campaign with a last-minute victory over Diego Simeone's side at Anfield on Wednesday night. The Reds were 2-0 up inside six minutes before a Marcos Llorente brace brought Atletico back level, only for Virgil van Dijk to head home from a corner in the second minute of added time.

Isak managed to stay on the pitch for an hour before being replaced by Hugo Ekitike. Slot reflected on a successful night for his new centre-forward afterwards, who showed promising chemistry with fellow summer signing Florian Wirtz.

"I was positively surprised by how fit Alexander was during the 60 minutes," the Reds head coach acknowledged. "That maybe tells you that it might be different to sign a 20-year-old from a different league than a 25-year-old used to playing in this league.

"Although he only trained for two weeks, he has so many games under his belt in this league. I wasn't surprised by his quality, as we all know that.

"It's always nice to see if a player starts the way he started. Ekitike started the same way.

"It was a good start, only 60 minutes, and now we have to build him up from here. He's not going to play 90 against Everton.

"One of the things you need if you want to compete for the Premier League and the cups is mentality and fitness, and quality, and today we saw that. Maybe I'm a bit disappointed we scored in the last minute.

"I know it will be a great headline and [something] to talk about, but I'd have liked it more if people were talking about our other attacks where Florian and Alexander combined together. I can come up with so many great attacks we had today, but everyone is talking about the late winner.

"I understand it as it's the story of this game and the last five games. I saw many good things."

Slot also spoke highly of Wirtz. "He was close a few times to scoring a goal and assisting a goal," the coach continued.

"He created the most chances for us today. I can see with him as well, he is getting fitter and adjusting more to us, which is normal, as you need a bit of time to adjust.

"People forget he's a 22-year-old going for the first time abroad. Last year was my first time abroad at 46, and all the things that are normal are not normal.

"Combine that with going to a new club, new playing style, we ask a bit more of him on the ball and defensively as well. I can see him grow more and more.

"A quality player always adjusts to what he needs. He and the team will get better."